Top PA Senate Dem: Broad-Based Tax Increase Unlikely
By Tony Romeo
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- One of Governor Wolf's top allies in the legislature says it's unlikely that the governor is going to get the broad-based tax increases he's holding out for.
Pennsylvania has been without a budget for almost four months. Earlier this month, nine Democrats joined with the Republican majority in the House to vote down Governor Wolf's proposal to raise the personal income tax.
At a press club appearance Monday, the top Democrat in the Senate, minority leader Jay Costa of Allegheny County, said support for Wolf's proposal isn't in the Senate cards, either…
"I mean, there's this very great reluctance to want to do anything in the area of broad-based taxes. And I think we'll likely be there," says Costa. "We recognize that. We probably won't be doing broad-based taxes in the end."
Costa says he believes majority Republicans in the Senate are sincere when they say they do not have the votes for broad-based taxes in their caucus… and he says his focus now is on finding other revenue sources.